Monday, July 10, 2017

An electric battle of newcomers
launched UFC into the mainstream of the sports world at The Ultimate Fighter
Season 1 finale.

Forrest Griffin defeated Stephan
Bonnar by unanimous decision in the best fight of the year, drawing millions of
fans to the first live MMA show on cable TV.

Everything UFC achieved later – fights
on Fox TV, coverage on ESPN, million-selling pay-per-views – can be traced
directly to this fight.

The Ultimate Fighter was a reality show that
ran on Spike TV for 14 seasons before moving to the Fox family of networks. Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture were the coaches during Season 1, and they fought one week
later on the UFC 52 pay-per-view.

TUF drew big numbers on Spike TV,
retaining more than half of the viewers from WWE Monday Night Raw.

Bonnar was so impressive in defeat
that he also earned a UFC contract from company president Dana White.

Three
years after his big win, Griffin defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to win the
UFC light heavyweight title.

At the TUF
1 reunion three years later, White said,"It's amazing to think how
close we came to not being here today. If it weren't for what these guys did, I
don't know if there would even be a UFC. I'll never forget these guys. Ever.”

In the
main event of the telecast, Rich Franklin defeated Ken Shamrock by TKO at the
2:42 mark.

Evan Tanner won the UFC middleweight title, which had been
vacant since 2002, when champ Murilo Bustamante defected to PRIDE Fighting
Championships. Tanner beat Dave Terrell by TKO in 4:35 to win the title.

In another middleweight fight, Pete Sell beat Phil Baroni
with a guillotine choke with 41 seconds left in the fight.

About Me

Jeff Gorman is the first announcer ever to go pro in MMA, wrestling, football and baseball.
His career highlights include Ring of Honor wrestling, Lake County Captains baseball and the Moosin: God of Martial Arts pay-per-view.
Jeff wrote a book about his announcing adventures called "This Side of the Mic." Pick it up at bn.com.
Most important in Jeff's life are his relationship with Christ and his family, and he loves to spend time with his wife and daughter.
For booking information, email jeff@mmaspecialist.com